Catching a Whale
by mypiratecat1
Summary: Sweet one shot.  A bit of fluff, as Jack and William teach Little Will Turner the value of always using one's imagination.


_**Disclaimer: **These pirates are mine, only in my dreams... and oh, what dreams I have._

_**Author's note:** Just came up from some thoughts inspired by my readers this week. I am reminded that one should always remain young, no matter what one's age is... and always, ALWAYS, listen to your imagination! A very "Disney" thing to do..._

_This one shot is another spinoff of "Calypso's Hand" and my other two long fics. Jack and William are cousins, in my lovely Pirates universe... Pirate Cat_

۞

Excitement was running high upon the Black Pearl as her crew moored her within the protective shores of a cove off of the coast of County Galway, Ireland. This was the rendezvous point that had been selected by the captain of the Flying Dutchman, James Norrington, for what they had all hoped would be the final voyage that he would be taking as the ferrier of souls... just over a decade had gone by since the events at World's End and since William Turner had passed his captaincy along to James, thanks to a petition presented to Calypso by Captain Jack Sparrow upon William's behalf... that, plus William's long, seemingly endless months of toil to correct the neglect of Davy Jones. Calypso had been merciful... the articles of the ship had been rewritten, and now it was hoped that James would be released from death and William would be released, forever, from any ties to the Dutchman.

In only having to report to the Dutchman periodically, William was able to rejoin his wife and their friends as crew of the Black Pearl... as first mate, he had seen his son born upon the dark ship of his first half-cousin. They had also finally found the location of the so-called Fountain of Youth... it was a spring, really... after many long months of searching the Florida Territory, and their lives with this sort of immortality could not have been better... the only thing that would make things "much more better", in Jack's words, would be William's permenant release, and witnessing the Flash of Green for James Norrington. Hopes were truly running high...

It was upon this afternoon, as the Pearl was settling into her mooring lines for a day or so of rest, that Elizabeth Swann Turner was watching her son, Little Will, have what seemed to be quite an animated conversation with his father, and Cousin Jack... a man who Little Will completely and unconditionally adored. In all of his 9 years, the captain had never talked down to him... he was always spoken to man-to-man... except in one instance when Little Will had taken a spill down the steps of the quarterdeck, as a toddler, and Jack had immediately picked him up and unhappily fussed over his bruises like a doting mother hen. The captain's well placed glare at all who observed this with some amusement warned them that it was his ship, and he could act any way that he damn well pleased, especially where his wee little godson was concerned.

As Elizabeth watched with amusement, William and Jack had been observing Little Will, sitting upon a barrel, a long stick in his hand, with a lengthy bit of string attached to the end, dangling over the railing and down into the water. He thought, it looked like, that he might be fishing...

۞

It was only a matter of time before William was having to prepare to leave in the longboat to join the Dutchman, and he was quietly holding his son against him, his cheek laying against the boy's dark hair as Little Will was nestled, dozing, in his father's arms. Elizabeth was happily sitting against her husband's side, as they sat with Jack while waiting for a sign from James. The Dutchman was nigh, and they were all in high hopes that this would be William's last time to leave for two weeks.

"Do you think that Calypso will grant James his life, Will?" Elizabeth hopefully looked up at William, whose eyes were closed as he savored the moment with his family. "Do you think that he will be able to finally return to England?"

"We hope so, my love..." William murmered, softly, "... James has performed his duties for the last ten years in exemplary fashion. He has followed his mission perfectly... the Flying Dutchman has been redeemed..."

Jack finally spoke, as he sank his teeth into a slice of lime, and puckered up his mustache, accordingly, "... Norrington always went about 'is duties wif great dedication, mates... even if it meant cleaning up th' seas of horrible fiends such as meself..." he chuckled. "...really, he's not such a bad sort...I'm glad tha' he has better things t' do than chase pirates... live ones, that is... " He licked his fingers, noisily, as lime juice threatened to drip into a sleeve.

"What on earth were you doing with Little Will that caused all of you to run around like wild hottentots, anyway? He is worn out! I thought that he was peacefully trying to fish, until the two of you showed up to torment him!" Elizabeth giggled at remembering the sight of her two men acting like silly fools ...not much of a stretch for Jack, although he always proved to be the opposite...

At that moment, Little Will woke up and rubbed his eyes a bit. Snuggled into his father's dark shirt, he looked up at William and smiled. Jack's eyes lit up, as he said to the child, "Ye let it get away, ye know..."

"I know... I got sleepy..."

"Wot kind of fisherman are ye, lad, if ye let whales get away from ye?"

William finally said, taking up with Jack's teasing, "I think that we might have caught several whales if we'd had the right kind of bait."

"Cousin Jack ate all of the proper bait, Papa... even though the whales swam right under us, this afternoon, I could not have caught them because Cousin Jack ate all of the peanuts. You said that whales eat peanuts, Papa... " William snickered under Elizabeth's incredulous stare... "William Turner! You are as bad as Jack Sparrow!" Jack enjoyed that comparison, as he and William looked back at her, proudly. Peas in pod, Elizabeth thought.

Jack contributed to an explanation, "Well, bait or no, we tried t' get them t' jump onto th' deck! By running back an' forth!"

Elizabeth stifled a loud laugh as she recalled the sight of Jack and William, playfully waving their arms, shouting and convincing Little Will to scramble back and forth between the starboard and port railings, rocking the Pearl slightly as they tried to convince the boy that whales would jump right out of the water... Jack had been pointing and shouting "Aaaaa!" and "Oh no!" as William nearly had to stop for laughing at him... they had Little Will completely fooled, and he was jumping up and down, straining his eyes to see what really was not there.

"... there really were not any whales, were there, Cousin Jack? You and Papa were just playing with me, weren't you?"

Jack leaned forward toward Little Will and smiled, warmly. "It's all a matter of perspective, Little Whelpie. We used our imaginations, didn't we? Sometimes it's said that I am mad..." his face clouded over a bit, as it was true most times, "... but when I was a laddie, younger than you, I lived just over there..." his hand swept out over to the craggy cliffs of Ireland just off of the Pearl's port side, "... my imagination was all tha' I had. I could be the king o' th' gypsies in my imagination."

Jack's arms flew out to his sides, grandly, "...I could fly... I could swim wif th' dolphins that danced wif each ship as she sailed out..." Jack leaned back, with a wistful look upon his dark face, as the others listened to his husky, slurred, mesmerizing voice, "... I could be anything tha' I wanted in me imagination. I could be all of the things... that I wasn't... I was just a skinny little boy, wif big ideas..." his voice trailed off, sadly, as his eyes caressed the coast of his homeland.

William took up the explanation, as Elizabeth watched Jack's thoughts become distant for a moment. "As Cousin Jack said, son, there is no limit when you use your imagination. I know that you don't like your 'schooling' much..." Little Will wrinkled up his nose at his father, "... but remember, Will, that reading and writing is one of the most important things, ever. The books that Cousin Jack gives you to read... the authors that wrote those books used their imaginations to write the stories... just as we did today... they just wrote it down. Always pay attention when Mama and I, and Cousin Jack try to teach you things, mate."

Jack still stared out at the coast before him... his eyes were growing sadder and sadder, as his mind wandered back to the sad past with his mother. He and his father had long since reconciled, he thought gladly, but it still did not erase the dreadful life of slavery and beatings that he was forced into while younger than Little Will was, now... he could still feel the back of the slavemaster's hand, slapping him across the face, the ring upon that hand splitting open his right eyebrow and scarring him forever .

Little Will climbed down from his father's lap, and came over to his cousin. Climbing into Jack's lap, he made the captain's attention turn to him, and he said, "Cousin Jack... while Papa is gone this time, you and Mama will read stories to me, like you always do, won't you?"

Welcoming this diversion of his attention, Jack laughed a little and replied, "O' course, lad. We have read almost every book that I have t' ye! We shall have t' procure more!"

As he nestled his head into the captain's bony shoulder, Little Will shrugged and said, "You can read some of them over again... maybe... we can add to them, with our imaginations!"

As the family of pirates watched the prow of the Flying Dutchman break the surface of the sea in the distance, they knew William had to leave. Gathering his sea bag, he prepared to climb down into the longboat with Jack... taking one last look at his beautiful wife and son, with the rays of the waning sun warming their faces, he was filled with hope that this would be the last time that they would have to part in a way such as this.

Putting down his bag, he held his arms open and gathered his family into his arms. "Remember, you two. While I am gone, keep an eye on Jack, and keep him out of trouble. Will, always do what your mother tells you..." Little Will nodded, burying his face into his father's vest. "Elizabeth, my darling... keep a weather eye on the horizen... for it may be the last time that I will have to ask you to do so..." He leaned down into the tender kiss that was waiting for him...

"Oi, cousin! We're losin' th' sun! Are ye comin', mate?"

And as William took up his bag, once more, he began to climb over the side of the mighty Black Pearl, he looked back up at the proud faces of his family, and he grinned, "..,. and when I come back in two weeks, I expect to see that you have caught a whale, my son."

Jack's unmistakable voice cried out from the longboat loudly, with more than just the hint of a smile in it, "Aaaa! Look over there! See it??? AAAA! It nearly capsized me!"

As the Turners all laughed, Little Will ran over to his father one more time, and said, happily..." With my imagination, Papa, I shall _always_ be able to catch a whale for you..."

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End file.
